Laundry machine



Aug. 7, y1934. J B, ,(,RB'Y 1,969,179

LAUNDRY4 MACHINE Filed Feb. 27. 1928 ,12:5 g: 27 28- lq Fig 2 Jain nxfry Inven tor L www Attorneys Patented Aug. 7, 1934 'LAUNDRY MACHINE James' n. Kirby, wen menuda, om, animar, by mesne assignments, to The Apex Electrical ufac Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio, as trustee Application February z'z, ma, sex-uu No. 257,233

v s claims. (c1. zio-7s) This invention relates to laundry machines and has special reference to the extractors employed in connection with clothes washing apparatus to remove the superfluous water .in place of the wringer once Vuniversally employed. The main object of the invention is the provision of a device of this character which shall exhibit a minimum of vibration; the provision of an improved single bearing type of centrifuge; the provision of a new expedient for distributing the clothing uniformly inside of the centrifuge container so that the tendency to vibration may be decreased; the provision of a new and improved design and construction or centrifuge container; while fur- -ther objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

This application is in part a continuation of my 'prior applications: Serial No. 174,208, filed March 10, 1927; Serial No. 195,091, filed May 28, 1927. In the drawing accompanying and forming a part ofthis application I have illustrated certain'physical structures in which my inventive ideas are embodied although it will be understood that these views are intended merely to illustrate the principles of my invention and not to limit me to the particular str uctures therein/ shown. Fig. 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through a part -of a domestic laundry centrifuge containing my improvements, the safety cover shown open, the centrifuge container in section, and the driving mechanism disengaged; Fig. 2 is a similar view of the same parts, showing the safety cover closed, the centrifuge container in elevation, and the driving mechanism in operating engagement; and

Figs. 3 and 4 are horizontal sectional views corresponding to the lines 3-3 and 4-4 respectively of Fig. 1.

The embodiment of my invention illustrated in Figs. -1 and 2 comprises a washing compartment A and an extractor compartment B. The compartment B is defined by an outerl vertical wall 15, a partition wall 16 separating it from the compartment A, and a bottom wall 17 mounted on a frame plate 18 carried by legs, one of which is shown at 19. The upper rim of the container is here shown as stiiened by a top Aframe 20 to which is hinged a safety cover 21. Seem-ed in the bottom plate 17 is a vertical bearing sleeve 22 in which is slidably and rotatably journaled the driving shaft 23 iluted at its upper end as shown at 24 and provided at its lower end with a friction disk 25 adapted to cooperate either with a friction wheel 26 to drive the same or brake shoes 27 v to arrest the same. In the present embodiment from entering the same .and I have further found these brake shoes are operated by a pivoted lever 28 moved by a cam 29 carried by the lower end of y a rod 30 which is operated by a safety handle 31 so arranged as to be movable into operating position only when the safety cover 21 is closed. Also I have shown the compartment B as formed with a drain pipe 32 for the discharge of liquid.v

My improved extractor container comprises a circular base-casting having a central hub 35 formed with a iluted socket 36 adapted to receive and fit-tightly the upper end of the drive shaft and surrounded by a round-bottomed, annular trough 37 whose outer wall 38 slants upwardly to a level where it is formed with a plurality of angularly spaced discharge apertures 39. Between each pair of these apertures the upper rim of this base is formed with an upwardly projecting ear 40 and to these ears are secured the upper member of the container.

This upper member has a side wall 41 and is preferably made largest at the bottom and tapering slightly inwardly at the top whereit is stiifened by a circular rim 42 defining a central opening for the introduction and removal of the washed articles. Preferably the boss or hub 35 rises a substantial distance into the interior of this container, and this, in commotion with the narrowing towards the top affords an increased degreeof stability. The bottom of the base member is also hollowed out as shown at 43 for the sleeve 22, forming a closed-topped recess which also exhibits a diving-bell effect and prevents the entry of water into the said sleeve in the event that any should become collectedin the 'compartment B. l

The lower edge of the wall 41 terminates just above the openings 39, and inasmuch as the escape of the water from the upper Vpart of the container duringthe rotation is assisted both by gravity and by centrifugal force, little slant is '95 necessary for the side wall and few openings are needed. In order to prevent the escape of water being impeded by the packing of' the clothing against the sides, I prefer to form the side walls with a plurality of inwardly opening narrow vertical channels 45, each preferably terminating at one of the openings 39 and extending from thence to the top of the container. These are best made very narrow and abrupt to prevent the fabrics it desirable, though notnecessary, to provide the bottom of each of these grooves with a few spaced narrow slits 46 to further facilitate the discharge of the water although such slits when employed are preferably very small. I have excellent suc- 110 .lso

cess with openings so small as d', of an inch in width and u", of an inch long, and channels only about V8 inch wide although I do not confine myself to any specific dimensions. 'I'he width of the channels 45 and the spacing between successive channels may be varied over rather wide limits without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention, which includes among other things, the provision of an extractor container having a channeled or corrugated side wall in which the innermost parts of the corrugations or inner corrugations are secured to a base member and the outermost parts of the corrugations or outer corrugations define drainage openings at points adjacent to such base member.

One advantage of constructing the container 4with such a small number of discharge apertures is that, owing to the obstruction of the outflow of water and its consequent slow discharge, the clothing inside the container is automatically distributed therein to a-very great extent, and thus balanced during the first few rotations of the extracting operation. It is well known that when a container full of liquid is rapidlyvrevolved about an upright axis the liquid will distribute itself uniformly, and this occurs notwithstanding the presence of floating articles such as pieces of clothing. Thewet articles transferred from the compartment A immediately to the compartment B contain sufficient liquid so as largely to effect this automatic uniformity of distribution during the first few turns of the container, seeing that the discharge openings are so limited as to prevent discharge of the liquid contents at, all freely except by centrifugal'force. Of course, this distribution can be further. facilitated by the addition of further water to the container just prior to the extracting operation as by a bucket or hose, and this has the further advantage of rinsing the clothes. The narrowing of the top of the container and the location of the shaft connection at a point inside the same and above its bottom, also undoubtedly assist in reducing the tendency towards vibration.

Furthermore, it is to be understood that the particular forms of laundry machine shown and described, and the particular procedure set forth are presented for purposes of explanation and that various modifications of said machine and procedure can be made without departure from this invention as described in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is:

1. In a laundry extractor, a container comprising'a base member and a wall member, said members flaring outwardly one toward the other, 'and means for securing said members together, the wall member having longitudinal liquid channels and the base member having recesses at its edge which register with said channels and define liquid discharge openings, said base member being imperforate below said recess.

2. In a centrifugal clothes drier, a container rotatable about its axis and comprising a bottom section and an upwardly tapered shell section corrugated vertically with the inner corrugations secured to the periphery of the bottom section and the outer corrugations spaced from the wall of the bottom section to form intervening drainage openings.

3. In a centrifugal clothes drier, a vat, a container rotatably mounted in the vat, said container having a wall flaring outwardly from the top to the bottom and -being formed with corrugations extending from the top to the bottom, and a bottom section secured to the inner corrugations in the lower end of the container and having portions of its periphery in spaced relation to the wall of the container to form drainage openings. v

JAMES'B. mRBY. 

